September 2008 Blog Posts (8)

When we were in Alsace recently we purchased a French phone card in case of emergency. We didn't have any, so the card is unused with all the 50 minutes remaining. Viviann said it was the best kind as it has an imbedded chip and doesn't require pin numbers. It expires Jan 1, 2010. We don't expect to be back in France before that so I am offering it to the first Untourist who asks with our blessing and best wishes. Email me direct at sjnncme@aol.com and it is yours. If you haven't ever used a… Continue

I was very, very bad this morning. I keep telling myself I don't need any more books about Venice. Well, if that is the case I need to say out of bookstores. This morning I popped into my local Barnes and Noble to buy coffee, not a latte, the kind that comes in the bag. With my member discount I can feed my Starbuck's addiction cheaper there than anywhere else; as long as I don't look at books.
As I walked in the door I couldn't help but notice that they had a wall of bargain travel books… Continue

It may be my ineptitude in finding my way about the Untours Cafe, but I don't see much on Alsace. We just came back from a two week Alsace Untour and can recommend it highly. If you are going directly to Alsace you will be met in Strassbourg and excorted to your home as usual.Since we came from Switzerland we made our own way from Zurich to Basle and got our car in the French section of the shared airport. It was a breeze.
The Alsace Untour is less structured than the Hearland, more like… Continue

Well, I'm checking to see if I may have resolved my access to my blog. I'm actually trying this from home and hope it works. I don't have my "Done but with errors on page" msg at the bottom right not.
Yes, five weeks from Tuesday I fly off to Venice. One tiny fly in the ointment has been resolved. Tomorrow starts a major remodel/reconstruction of the condo building where I live and we are forced to street parking until the project is finished. It's one thing to park on the street and take… Continue

I couldn't believe that I had to invest in Hi speed internet access in order to post on my blog. It was a minor computer security problem. I finally clicked the help button. Although I use computers on a daily basis and have tons of programs at work I'm not always sure what the error messages mean. I found that I had to specifically type in the link for Untours Cafe and click on "always" allow cookies to get this to work. And it did! I'm so excited. It's the first time in ages I haven't gotten… Continue

I had an Uncle who served with the German Army during World War II. In reply to my request for military information, I received a letter from Berlin today. It's entirely in German. I have done a rough translation. His name was Georg Manz. He was born 28/07/1927 in Backi-Brestowatz Kreis Hodzag/Jugoslawien. He apparently was a Panzer tank rifleman. On 20/02/1945 at the age of 17, he was killed by a bullet to the head from a low flying straffing attack.

I subscribe to a weekly email newsletter sent out by the German Information Center USA (part of the German embassy). It includes short articles about all sorts of things, but I usually just file it away or skim through to see if anything catches my eye. Today it was totally worth it! It's a piece about how the transit system in Berlin is going to develop its own fragrance to make the trains smell nicer. What totally surprised me about this article is that the Paris Metro already has a scent… Continue

Starting next week (September 15 - 28) is Fair Trade Week in Germany. There will be thousands of events held all over Germany in fair trade stores, supermarkets, restaurants/cafeterias, and other places to increase awareness of fair trade. It's an initiative of the German Fair Trade Forum that's been going on for several years. Unfortunately the website is only in German:Faire Woche
If you're… Continue